Baseball: WVU Battles Georgetown
May 13, 2010 04:34 PM | General
May 13, 2010
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| Grant Buckner |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University baseball team looks to keep its postseason hope alive as it travels to Georgetown this weekend for its final conference road series of the season. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, May 14, in Bethesda, Md., followed by another start time of 7 p.m. on Saturday. Sunday’s contest begins at 1 p.m.
The Mountaineers (22-26, 6-15) are tied for 10th-place in the conference standings with six BIG EAST games remaining. They are two games behind eighth-place Notre Dame for the final spot in the BIG EAST Championship.
“This three-game set is crucial for our team,” coach Greg Van Zant said. “We’ve been playing better as of late, and hopefully our preparation will lead to execution on the field against one of our BIG EAST rivals.”
WVU carries a four-game winning streak, its best stretch since winning five in a row against Manhattan, Niagara and Eastern Michigan from March 14-20. Its offense continues to develop late in the season, batting .308 to sit at fifth in the BIG EAST.
Over their last four games, the Mountaineers have produced double-digit hit totals. They combined for 38 in three games against the Fighting Irish, and finished with 14 on Wednesday evening in a 6-5 win over Bethune-Cookman.
WVU has also lowered its team ERA in each of the last four contests, getting quality starts from its rotation while allowing single-digit hit totals in three of the four games. During its winning streak, the opposition has batted just .250 (36-for-144).
Third baseman Grant Buckner looks to extend his 15-game hitting streak this weekend. Buckner earned four national awards for his standout performance against Notre Dame last weekend, and also was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week. He is batting .359 with eight home runs, 44 RBIs, 13 doubles, 31 runs scored and a team-high 13 hit-by-pitches.
Designated hitter Jeremy Gum has swung well over his last seven games played, batting .536 (15-for-28) with three home runs, nine RBIs, four doubles and eight runs scored. The Bridgeport native finished 2-for-4 with an RBI on Wednesday night and produced five hits and five RBIs in WVU’s 22-6 win over Notre Dame last Saturday.
Jedd Gyorko has improved his batting average by 21 points over the last four games, showing a .380 mark with team-highs of 15 home runs, 50 RBIs, 23 doubles and 76 hits. The Morgantown native is five doubles shy of matching his school-record mark from last season.
Starting right-hander Andy Berry hopes to feed off his impressive performance last weekend, tossing a season-high 7.1 innings and allowing just three runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts. Junior Jarryd Summers also delivered a win in his last outing, and has thrown at least five innings in 11 of his 12 starts this season.
The Hoyas (20-26, 4-17) took one of three from nationally-ranked Louisville in their last conference series. They own one conference series victory this season over Notre Dame, and also have a road win at Villanova. Georgetown also split with nearby opponent George Mason this season, going 2-2.
Sophomore Rand Ravnaas is one of Georgetown’s top players, batting .342 with 10 home runs, 31 RBIs, 14 doubles and two triples. Junior first baseman Dan Capeless is hitting .325 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, and senior William Capelo leads the team with 40 RBIs.
WVU has won five of the past six meetings against Georgetown. WVU is 26-28 versus the Hoyas in a series that began in 1902.
